Necktie holder



G. A. ELLESTAD 3,151,371

NECKTIE HOLDER Filed April 17, 1961 0 INVENTIR.

Max! 4- United States Patent 3,151,371 NECKTIE HOLDER Gerhard A.Ellestad, 391 N. Orchard St, Northfield, Minn. Filed Apr. 17, 1961, Ser.No. 1113,448 Claims. (Cl. 24-56) This invention relates .to necktieholders of the encircling type which releasably hold the dependingportions of a four-in-hand necktie to the front of a shirt.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved necktieholder of the type described which will be neat in appearance,convenient and efficient in use, yet simple in structure and capable ofbeing manufactured from sheet material at a low cost.

Another object is to provide an improved necktie holder of the typedescribed which is constructed in such a manner that the depending endportions of a necktie may be placed readily within the holder so thatthe front part of the latter lies across and in contact with the frontface of the necktie and thereby presents a neat appearance.

A further object is to provide a necktie holder of the type describedwhich in normal use lightly grips the necktie between the front and rearsides of the holder which may be selectively flexed apart to facilitateinsertion of the necktie between the sides.

These and other objects and advantages reside in certain novel featuresof construction, arrangement, and combination of parts as will be morefully described hereinafter and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a necktie holder embodying the inventionand showing it in use.

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the manner of opening the holder foreasy insertion of the neck-tie.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rear side of the holder.

FIG. 4 is a perspective front view of a modification of the holder.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the holder shown in FIG. 4taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of another modification of theholder.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view thereof.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a further modification.

FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of still another modification.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view thereof.

A preferred embodiment of my invention isshown in FIGS. 1-3 of thedrawings wherein 20 indicates, generally, a necktie holder comprising aflat, endless band having the front and rear sides 21 and 22,respectively. The rear side 22 has an upwardly extending portion 23having its lateral edges 24 spaced inwardly from the ends of the rearside 22, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1-3. tion 23 is providedwith suitableaperture means, such as the slit 25, for receiving a button carried bythe front of a shirt to thereby detachably secure the holder to theshirt front.

The rear side 22 and its integral portion 23 form a rear member 22'which is made from relatively stiff, self- The porrigid sheet materialwhich can be flexed by the application of opposed pressures at the twoends of the rear side 22, as shown in FIG. 2. The front side 21 is madeof a strip of pliable sheet material which is folded reversely at itsrespective end portions 26 so as to overlap the adjacent ends of therear side 22, with the overlapping portions 27 secured to the rear faceof the rear side 22 by any suitable means, such as cement, When opposedpressures are applied to the ends of the flat band, the front and rearsides 21 and 22 are flexed in opposite directions so that the two sidesseparate and provide an enlarged opening for the easy insertion of thenecktie T, as shown in FIG. 2. The pliable reversely folded end portions26 act as hinge means or flexing places so that as the stiff rear member22' is flexed the pliable front side will be moved away from the rearside. The hinge means should therefore be pliable so that repeatedflexings will not produce a rupture or break at the folded end portionsor fieXures 26. After placing the necktie within the temporarilyenlarged opening between the two sides, the opposed pressures at theends of the band are released and the resilience of the rear member 22thereupon returns the latter to its substantially flat, normal shape sothat the pliable front side 21 also tends to return to its normalposition. Thereby, the necktie is light- 'ly gripped between the frontand rear sides since the normal spacing between the two sides is lessthan the thickness of the necktie portions held therebetween. The frontside 21 will, therefore, be in contact with and extend across the frontface of the necktie.

The rear member 22' and the front side 21 may be made of any kinds ofsheet material having the characteristics which will provide a deviceoperating in the above described manner. Good results have beenobtained, for example, by making the rear member 22' of a stiff plasticsheet material which is about .020 inch thick and is sold under thetrademark Vinylite. The front side 21 was made of a strip of pliablesheet material which had been produced by depositing metal, in vacuum,on transparent polyester film, sold under the trademark Mylar, and thenbacking up the metallic deposit with a pliable, protective plastic film.Such pliable metallized plastic sheet material is currently avail-ableon the market in a great variety of colors and patterns. The front side21 could also be made of other pliable, plastic films, of suitablethickness, which may be imprinted or ornamented as desired. The holdermay, for example, also be made by forming the rear member 22' ofpasteboard, such as 3- ply Bristol board, and the front side of apliable strip of bond paper, although such a holder would have arelatively short useful life.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a modification with the holder formed of a pliablestrip 30 of sheet material having the front side 31 and the tworearwardly positioned folded portions 32 which are secured, as bycementing, to a narrow strip 33 of stiff plastic sheeting. Thisconstruction provides a flat, endless band so that when opposedpressures are applied at the two ends of the band, the front and rearsides of the band will open for insertion of the necktie and willlightly grip the necktie when the pressures are released. The band issecured to the shirt front by means of a reversely folded pliableplastic member 34 which is folded over the strip 33 and the folded endportions 32 and cemented, as shown in FIGS. 4-5. A slit 35 formed inmember 34 receives a button on a shirt front to thereby detachablysecure the holder to the shirt front. The operation of this modificationis substantially the same as that of the holder shown in FIGS. 1-3. Thestiff strip 33 normally holds the pliable strip 30 in substantiallyparallel relation to the former. The pliable strip flexes freely at thefolded end portions 36 and the distance between the front and rear sidesof the band is less than the thickness of a necktie to be placed betweenthe sides.

A further modification is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 wherein the necktieholder is constructed from two pieces of sheet material, namely, a frontside 46 formed of a strip of stiff plastic sheeting and a rear member 41formed of a piece of pliable, plastic sheet material. The lower part ofmember 41 has the oppositely extending end portions or extensions 42winch, with the lower part of member 41, form the rear side 43 which iscoextensive with the front side 40. The adjacent faces of the respectiveend portions of sides 4t) and 43 are secured together as at 44 by anysuitable means such as cement or heat-sealing. This constructionprovides a substantially flat, endless band having front and rear sidesbetween which the necktie may be received and lightly gripped. Since theextensions 42 of the pliable member 41 are cemented or secured to theextreme end portions of front side 40, parts of the extensions 42 willact as hinge means or flexing places so that when opposed pressures areapplied at the ends of the band, the front and rear sides will be flexedapart for insertion of a necktie. Upon release of the pressures, theresilience of the stiff front side 40 will cause the sides to returnsubstantially to normal position so that the necktie will be lightlygripped between the two sides. The rear member 41 is provided with aslit 45 for cooperation with a button on a shirt front to therebydetachably secure the holder to a shirt front.

FIG. 8 shows a further modification in which the holdor comprises thepliable plastic rear member 51 having at its lower portion theoppositely projecting integral portions or extensions 52 which arereversely folded as at 53. This provides the end portions 54 on theextensions which are secured, as by cementing at 55, to the respectiveend portions of the stiff front side 56. This construction provides asubstantially flat band having front and rear sides which may beseparated for insertion of the necktie by applying opposed pressures atthe ends of the band. In this structure, the folded portions 53 act ashinge means or flexing places when the pressures are applied. Uponrelease of the pressures, the necktie will be lightly gripped betweenthe front and rear sides of the band. A slit '57 is formed in the member51 for coaction with a shirt front button, as in the othermodifications.

Still another modification is shown in FIGS. 9 and wherein the necktieholder has the rear member 60 which is formed of stiff sheet materialand has at its lower part the lateral extensions or projections 61 whichform the rear side of the flat band. The front side 62 of the band ismade of a strip of stiff sheet material which is coextensive with therear side. The respectively adjacent end portions of the front and rearsides are connected by strips of pliable tape 63 which overlap the outersurfaces of the two sides and are secured thereto by any suitable means,such as cement. When opposed pressures are applied at thetwoends of theband, the front and rear sides will be flexed away fromeach other, forthe insertion of a necktie, with the pliable tapes 63 serving as hingemeans. When the pressures are released the necktie will be lightlygripped between the two sides.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the objects of theinvention have been attained. In each modification, the flat band has atleast one side which is stiff, so that when opposed pressures areapplied to the ends, the stiff side will be bent or flexed away from theother side. Upon release of thedeforming or'flexing pressures, the reesilience of the stiff side will return it substantially to its normalshape. Each modification of the invention has its front and rear sidesconnected at the respectively adjacent end portions by a pliable hingemeans or flexing place so that the central portions of the two sides maybe freely separated for insertion of the necktie. The hinge or flexingareas should be pliable so that repeated flexings will not produce abreak or rupture at the point of flexing. The rear side of the flat bandof each modification has an upwardly extending portion which is providedwith a button engaging slit. The portion is narrower horizontally thanthe fiat band so that flexing of the band is facilitated by theapplication of opposed pressures to the laterally projecting endportions of the band. This construction also serves to conceal theslit-carrying portion behind the necktie. In use, the front side of theband lies across and in contact with the front of the necktie and sopresents a neat appearance.

Various types of sheet material, suitable for making the holder, areavailable in a large variety of colors and patterns. Since the holdercan be made at low cost, it is especially adaptable for use in thenovelty and advertising fields. The sheet material parts of the holdermay be imprinted or ornamented in many different ways. Variousmodifications may obviously be made without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as pointed out in the appended claims.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.757,282, filed August 26, 1958, and now abandoned.

' I claim:

1. A necktie holder comprising a flat, endless band formed of sheetmaterial and having front and rear sides between which thedependingportions of a necktie may be lightly gripped, pliable hingemeans connecting the respectively adjacent end portions of the front andrear sides, at least one of said sides being formed of stiff sheetmaterial, the distance between the two sides being normally less thanthe thickness of the necktie portions to be held between them, the sideformed of stiff sheet material being adapted to be flexed by theapplication of opposed pressures to the respective ends thereof so thatthe hinge means permits the free separation of the two sides tofacilitate insertion of the necktie between them whereby upon release ofthe pressures the resilience of the stiff side will return it tosubstantially its normal shape and thereby provide light gripping actionon the portions of the necktie positioned between the sides, and meanson the rear side providing an aperture for detachably securingthe holderto a button on a shirt front.

2. A necktie holder as described in claim 1 in which both front and rearsides are formed of stiff sheet material.

3. A necktie holder comprising a rear member formed of stiff sheetmaterial, aligned extensions projecting laterally from the oppositesides of the lower portion of the member, a strip of pliable sheetmaterial extending along the front face of the lower portion of themember, the end portions of the strip being reversely folded over therespectively adjacent ends of the extensions and secured to the memberto thereby provide a relatively flat band having front and rear sidesformed, respectively, by the strip and by said extensions and the lowerportion of said member, the distance between the front and rear sidesbeing normally less than the thickness of the portions of the necktie tobe received therebetween, the twosides being constructed and arranged tobe temporarily separated for the easy insertion of the necktie by theapplication of opposed pressures at the respective ends of the bandwhereby upon release of the pressures the necktie will be lightlygripped between the two sides, said rear member being provided with anaperture for detachably securing the holder to a button on the front ofa shirt.

4. A necktie holder as described in claim 1 in which the rear side isformed of stiff sheet material, the front side is formed of pliablesheet material and the means on the rear side providing an aperturecomprises a portion which extends upwardly from the rear side and abovethe front side and has its lateral edges spaced inwardly from therespectively adjacent ends of the rear side.

5. A necktie holder as described in claim 1 in which the front side isformed of still sheet material, the rear side is formed of pliable sheetmaterial and the means on the rear side providing an aperture comprisesa portion which extends upwardly from the rear side and above the frontside and has its lateral edges spaced inwardly 10 from the respectivelyadjacent ends of the rear side.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS KompFeb. 2, 1875 Levey Nov. 6, 1923 Keller July 8, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTSFrance Jan. 2, 1919 Great Britain of 1888 Great Britain of 1888

1. A NECKTIE HOLDER COMPRISING A FLAT, ENDLESS BAND FORMED OF SHEETMATERIAL AND HAVING FRONT AND REAR SIDES BETWEEN WHICH THE DEPENDINGPORTIONS OF A NECKTIE MAY BE LIGHTLY GRIPPED, PLIABLE HINGED MEANSCONNECTING THE RESPECTIVELY ADJACENT END PORTIONS OF THE FRONT AND REARSIDES, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SIDES BEING FORMED TO STIFF SHEET MATERIAL,THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES BEING NORMALLY LESS THAN THETHICKNESS OF THE NECKTIE PORTIONS TO BE HELD BETWEEN THEM, THE SIDEFORMED OF STIFF SHEET MATERIAL BEING ADAPTED TO BE FLEXED BY THEAPPLICATION OF OPPOSED PRESSURES TO THE RESPECTIVE ENDS THEREOF SO THATTHE HINGE MEANS PERMITS THE FREE SEPARATION OF THE TWO SIDES TOFACILITATE INSERTION OF THE NECKTIE BETWEEN THEM WHEREBY UPON RELEASE OFTHE PRESSURES THE RESILIENCE OF THE STIFF SIDE WILL RETURN IT TOSUBSTANTIALLY ITS NORMAL SHAPE AND THEREBY PROVIDE LIGHT GRIPPING ACTIONON THE PORTIONS OF THE NECKTIE POSITIONED BETWEEN THE SIDES, AND MEANSON THE REAR SIDE PROVIDING AN APERTURE FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THEHOLDER TO A BUTTON ON A SHIRT FRONT.